A YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE –
TRADITIONS IN BLOOM
Singapore Youth Philharmonic Orchestra
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Sunday (8 March 2026), 4 pm
Singapore is literally growing orchestras by the year, and in this concert, one got to witness what happens in the nursery. The children of the Singapore Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (SYPO) were joined by Year 3 orchestral pedagogy students of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in an hour-long concert that served as a harmonious classroom lesson for both students and their parents.
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| SYPO players stand up to be counted. |
The SYPO students dressed in hong bao red t-shirts formed the bulk of the strings, while YST students in black occupied the principal seats and almost all the woodwind, brass and percussion sections. Together they made a joyous noise, conducted by YST alumnus Luo Wei.
The concert begin with familiar strains of the Chinese New Year favourite, Mao Yuan’s Joy of Spring (Xin Chun Le), with just the strings of SYPO. There was a rawness to the sound, but that was overshadowed by the sheer enthusiasm invested in the playing. It just got better with the older students joining in for the two popular works influenced by folk music.
Liu Tie Shan and Mao Yuan’s Dance of the Yao People needs little introduction, as it was performed in SYPO’s last concert as well as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural concerts in 1979. Beginning slow, it soon gathers in pace. The main theme recurs as in a rondo, but gets faster and more voluminous with each run. Woodwind solos shine as the dance is ornamented, and very soon the merry-making erupts through all the ranks. It was a joyous reading, and one can say that the sound generated has already surpassed that of the SSO during its early years.
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| Photo: Singapore Youth Philharmonic Orchestra |
Roughly the same formula was repeated in Georges Enesco’s Romanian Rhapsody No.1. The slow opening involved solo clarinet and oboe in a call and response routine, and very soon the strings join the fray. If the Chinese dance was vigorous, this one was energy multiplied manifold, and there is always a thrill hearing cascading strings move through the orchestra, with rising strings emerging at the other end. The final dance was an exciting hora, bringing the enjoyable piece to a virile close.
The major work in the concert was Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, also known as Variations on a Theme by Henry Purcell, the subject being the Rondeau from Abdelazer. The showpiece involved all the sections of the orchestra, as well as impressive solos from each of the instruments. Narration was provided by engaging host Lai Chong, and cartoon visuals were projected on the large screen above. For the many parents in the audience, there was now no excuse for mistaking one instrument from another, besides learning how an orchestra functions.
The students created a big sound for the tuttis, while the many tricky solos were handled with ease by the conservatory students. The closing fugue was a tour de force of virtuosity, and there was no shortage of spirit and verve as the work wound to a suitably rousing and rowdy conclusion.
It has been a pleasure to witness these young musicians at work under the uniting baton of Luo Wei. While only a fraction of them will become professional musicians in the long run, there is little doubt that all of them will become lovers of music for life.
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| Photo: Singapore Youth Philharmonic Orchestra |
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| Photo: Singapore Youth Philharmonic Orchestra |
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